Electronic retail stores may have a number of advantages over traditional brick-and-mortar stores. For example, electronic retail stores may not be limited to specific hours of operation or geography. As a result, electronic retail stores may enable consumers to shop virtually whenever and wherever is convenient to the consumer. Additionally, electronic retail stores may provide a wider selection of products because electronic stores may not be constrained by the availability of a physical show room floor. Also, prices of products may be lower from electronic retailers that do not maintain a physical store presence.
The use of machine-readable identification tags or codes on goods has become ubiquitous. Both electronic and brick-and-mortar retailers commonly use product identification codes, numbers, symbols, or the like to identify products, manage inventory, track sales and so forth. Optically readable tags, such as barcodes, QR codes and the like may enable the quick and automated identification of goods. For example, in the retail industry the Uniform Product Code (UPC) barcode is widely used. The Universal Product Code (UPC) is an example of a product identification code that has been widely adopted in the United States. Other non-limiting example product identification codes include the MPN (Manufacturer Part Number), EAN (International Article Number), ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and JAN (Japanese Article Number).
In some instances where a retailer physically manages the products being sold, product identification codes can be physically inspected and verified. However, some electronic retailers sell products to customers from a third party merchant and do not physically manage the product. As a result, the retailer may be unable to physically verify the accuracy of a product identification code submitted by the third party retailer. If the third party submits inaccurate or fraudulent product identification codes to the retailer, then management of the product catalog may be difficult.